News & Information

October 2018 Monthly update

October – the start of the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!

Let’s hope that our research will bear fruit and not get too lost in the mists of time!

Pat is now in the throes of chemotherapy, and I hear that she has had a bad reaction to her latest session.  We wish her all the best.

October events

October 1st: Annual autumn lunch Worlebury Golf Club 12 for 1230

October 6th: Oxfordshire FHS Family History Fair: Marlborough School, Woodstock 10-4

October 6th: Devon FHS Conference and AGM: Torquay Academy 930-5

October 13th: Glamorgan FHS Family History Fair, Merthyr Tydfil: 10-3.30

At our next meeting we welcome Shirley Hodgson, the author of the book “Bristol’s Pauper Children”. She will be talking about “Have we forgotten the basics?”

I have been reading a book by Lois Elsdon (our speaker of February) called Radwinter. It tells of a newcomer to family history research. He was looking at the 1841 census and wondering why there were triplets in one family all aged 25. I am sure we know why that is, but this is getting back to basics.

News from the websites

FindmyPast have added more electoral registers to their package, and there are now over 53 million people in their registers online.

The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium have released 440000 historic records dated from 24 June 1856 to 7 October 1955. They are digitally imaged and are free to look at at www.col-burialregisters.uk. They aren’t indexed but if you know roughly when someone dies they could be useful/

Family Search (run by the Mormons), www.familysearch.org, have put online all the Ellis Island records from the US. These list the emigrants to the USA, the ships they sailed on. This has been available through paid sites, but it is now free.

Finally, a few unusual names from the records.

Although Autumn is now a girl’s name, and has been quite popular, there are a few in the 19th century, and then none until 1948. It was originally a boy’s name.

The one I like is Master Autumn WINTER who was born and died in Oldham in 1876.

There is a marriage in 1913 of William BLACK to Alice BERRY in Sunderland. Pie anyone?

Of course the leaves turn to brown, as Florence LEAVES turned to Frederick BROWN in Paddington in 1915.

In the 1911 census in Surrey we have a person who is called Charles Darke KNIGHT!

Then in Middlesex we have Hazel NUTT!

That’s all for now.

The Blackford Holy Trinity marriage transcripts covering the period 1845-1915 are now available for society members to view online.

Please report any transcript errors to the author of this news article.

The Blackford (Wedmore) Holy Trinity burial transcripts covering the period 1826-1910 are now available for Society members to view online.

Please report any transcript errors to the author of this news article.

The following has been sent to me for further circulation.

22nd September 2018 Somerset & Dorset FHS AGM and Open Day 10am to 4pm at Queen Elizabeth School Blandford Road Wimborne Minster, Dorset BH21 4DT The event is free and you do not have to be a member to attend.The key Speakers are Nick Barratt and Gill Blanchard. There is free parking.

The History and Heritage on the Levels Exhibition will take place in Othery Village Hall on the 26th and 27th October. 11am -5pm all free of charge. At 7pm on the Friday 26th October you can come and see internationally acclaimed genealogist ,historian Guild member and author Janet Few The History Interpreter talking about "The burning time" witchcraft in the 17th Century". Groups attending include Somerset and Dorset Family History Society, Guild of One Name Studies, The History Hut, North Curry Archives, Langport and District History Society, Somerset Western Front Association, Othery History Group, Middlezoy History Group, High Ham Parish Community Group , Westonzoyland Aviation Museum. No entry charge for exhibition or talk. We will have a raffle, refreshments for sale and a bar in the evening.

The Milton Road Cemetery burial records (Book 41-48) covering the period 1942-1951 are now available for society members to view online.

Please report any transcript errors to the author of this news article.

September heralds a fresh look at family history.  I’ve been doing some sorting out of old correspondence – from the days when I started my research and most was done by visiting Record Offices, Churches and making contact with other researchers by letter having found their address from the GRD – Remember that?  The Genealogical Research Directory.  This September DNA is now the latest tool to use but it does not replace traditional research but can enhance it.

Free Research Sites

• Now-a-days, the Internet gives the opportunity to reach many free resources – one of which is the Openlibrary which has many printed transcriptions of Church Registers.  Just enter Parish Registers in the search box and then scroll through to see if the area of your family is included.
• There are also free online courses in Genealogy Research available – go to Futurelearn  for more details and the chance to start one immediately.
• The Magazine, Family Tree, is offering a 30 day free course in Family History Research.  The first week gives 7 different suggestions of how to find out more about genealogy, finishing with a link to a course on reading old writing. 
• Other people’s experiences can be helpful while doing your research Madaboutgenealogy gives some tips for avoiding common mistakes while researching and may help in breaking down brick walls
• One of the last places I would have looked for to get help with family history research would have been the Financial Times - but only yesterday it published How to trace Your Family Tree with several useful tips including some free sites.

Events in September

• The Somerset Archivist will be visiting Weston Library on Thursday September 6th so if you want to look at any documents which are held at the South West Heritage Trust contact them about a week beforehand (that’s now!) to ask for material to be brought up to Weston. Contact them at Tel: 01823 278805.  You can discus with them what would be of use to you.  You can search their catalogue here   Try putting in the name of the Road or place in which you (or your ancestors) lived to discover what documents refer to that address. The planning details for property in the Weston district are very interesting.  Try putting in your surname to see if there are any documents relating to the Somerset surname you are researching. 
• September brings Open Days when local buildings are open to the public – These Heritage Open Days are all over the country but details can be found of places which may not normally be open to the public which you can visit near you by putting in your post code. There are 16 places within 10 miles of Weston and many more if you include Bristol or Taunton.  The dates vary and the first two weekends of September are included.
• We are all familiar with Familysearch, the free website of the Church of the Latter-day Saints, but some of their resources are only accessible from a Family History Centre.  On Saturday, 22nd September the Local LDS Family History Centre is having an Open Day from 10.00am – 5.00pm at their Church at 11 Ellenborough Park North, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1XH.  Why not go along and find out what they have to offer?  If you wish you can also take along your laptop for 1:1 expert guidance.
• At our September meeting on Tuesday, September 25th Peter de Dulin will be sharing some of his own family history research in a talk entitled “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HENRY CHARLES JEWELL AND OTHER MYSTERIES?”.
• Every Saturday our volunteers will be at Weston Library to help anyone (you don't have to be a member) who has a query about family or local history.  We are there between 2.00 until 3.30pm

Looking Ahead

• This November sees 100 years since the Armistice of 1918 and Weston Library is preparing an exhibition to mark the occasion.  If any of you have WW1 display material such as we used in 2014 for our Open Day exhibition of that year please could you let me know so that we can work with the Library to add to their exhibition.  They are also looking for volunteers for the week after Nov 11th who have knowledge of Military Research techniques who could be in the library to assist people to find out more about their relations. Please let me know if you are available that week.
• I am booking speakers for 2019 and if any of you have suggestions for topics and/or speakers I would be glad to hear from you as soon as possible.